Sustainable Training?
Ultimately when it comes down to your training and exercise routines, you want to be able to do it for as long as possible. This means that longevity is key. Elements such as intensity, frequency, rest etc. need to be taken into consideration to ensure that you can truly sustain your training and get the most out of each and every session.
You can also ensure that progression in one way or another is made week on week, month on month and year on year. Not to mention, the more sustainable the training, the lower the risk of injury is.
With these points in mind, let’s dive into some more detail:
INTENSITY
Intensity IS important. If you are just going through the motions and not really challenging yourself you’ll likely have a tough time getting the results you want. However, with that said you can’t expect to be going 110% each and every session taking every exercise to failure, pushing the limits on aerobic capacity and going for personal bests on everything every week.
It’s important to focus on technique over ego lifting, form and control over erratic movements and knowing when it is suitable to push the limits. For example, you may focus on certain aspects of your progress for the bulk of a session and then choose to do a ‘finisher’ at the end. That’s when you can push yourself to the limit and increase intensity to the max, instead of going FULL speed and more for the whole workout.
FREQUENCY
Training frequency is another important factor. This does also come down to training experience, goals and recovery. What works for someone else may not work for you. This is something that you’ll have to test and see if progress is still being made, if you have good energy, sleep well, can train consistently without fatigue etc.
If you’re just starting out, anywhere between 1-3 days is a good aim, with a day between sessions to allow the body to recover. These workouts may typically be full body based to ensure that each muscle is hit more than once per week.
As you advance you may change your workout splits or find new areas to improve upon. Meaning that you may go from 1-3 sessions per week up to 3-5 training days per week. Once again this may be good for you and some may find this challenging. Once you push past 5 or even double training days you are likely training at an athlete standard level and nailing all aspects of training and what comes with it in and out of the gym.
Know what works for you and what doesn't, tailor your frequency and intensity to your lifestyle and what you know you can sustain for a longer period of time. Better to show up and get it done for a long time rather than give it your all for a short time and burnout or lose interest.
RECOVERY
Directly linking into our previous point. Your recovery is crucial to sustainability, the better your recovery, the better your training, the better you feel, the better everything feels as a whole.
When it comes to recovery we aren't just talking the time/days between sessions but your nutrition, hydration, sleep and ability to make progress across aerobic and anaerobic energy systems as well as across workouts and movements.
Making sure you’re adequately rested between sessions will ensure less risk of injury as well as properly recovered muscles that are ready for the next workout!
Make sure you are staying on top of your protein, carbs and nutrition in general. Drinking lots of water, getting good quality restful sleep and listening to your body. It will tell you when you need to take a rest. In summary, the time between your workouts is as important, if not more important the workouts themselves..
FOLLOW THE PROGRAMME
With all of this in mind, you can still easily tailor a workout programme relevant to your goals around your lifestyle with enough rest whilst being reasonable with intensity levels. This is a good way to ensure you can train well, often and over a longer period of time.
If you train with us here at Portside this is something that is taken care of for you. A programme being made and given bespoke to you based on your initial consultation with updates and progressions to keep you making steps towards your goals!
And remember, it’s best to train consistently over a long period of time rather than now and again at a higher intensity.